Electronic Telegram No. 3534
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET C/2013 J5 (BOATTINI)
     Andrea Boattini reports his discovery of a comet (discovery observations
tabulated below) on CCD images obtained with the 0.68-m Schmidt telescope in
the course of the Catalina Sky Survey; four co-added 30-s images show a 2"
coma and a thin tail about 12" long in p.a. 135 deg (the length being a bit
uncertain due to involvement with a very faint field star).  Five co-added
40-s follow-up CCD images taken by R. E. Hill with the Mt. Lemmon 1.5-m
reflector on May 13.5 UT show a small, condensed nuclear region with a thin
tail of length 15" in p.a. 140 deg.  After posting on the Minor Planet
Center's NEOCP webpage, other CCD astrometrists have also commented on the
object's cometary appearance.  William H. Ryan (Magdalena Ridge Observatory,
2.4-m f/8.9 reflector) finds a distinct tail about 30" long in p.a. about 150
deg in four R-band images taken on May 14.3; follow-up images taken by Ryan
(with E. V. Ryan) on May 19.2 show the same appearance.  H. Sato (Tokyo,
Japan) obtained images remotely with iTelescope instruments located near
Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.; eleven stacked 60-s exposures taken on May 14.4 with a
0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph show a poorly condensed coma 12" in diameter with
V-band magnitude 18.9 as measured within a circular aperture of radius 8".2,
while eleven stacked 60-s images from May 16.3 using a 0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph
show a moderately condensed coma of size 10" (with V-band mag 19.8 as measured
within a circular aperture of radius 6".5) and a faint tail 10" long pointing
northwards.  Bringfried Stecklum (Thueringer Landessternwarte; 1.34-m
Tautenburg Schmidt telescope; May 14.85) writes that four stacked 240-s
R-band images show a straight tail about 30" long in p.a. about 145 deg.
Images taken by L. Bittesini, P. Fasola, E. Pettarin, and F. Piani with a
0.61-m f/4 reflector at Farra d'Isonzo, Italy, on May 14.9 show a tail 35"
long in p.a. 140 deg.

     2013 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     May  13.31659   15 24 03.49   +15 03 51.1   20.4   Boattini
          13.32338   15 24 02.77   +15 03 56.0   20.9     "
          13.33016   15 24 02.30   +15 03 57.8   19.9     "
          13.33702   15 24 01.83   +15 04 04.0   20.3     "

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic orbital
elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-K25.

     T = 2012 Dec. 13.5736 TT         Peri. =  21.1146
                                      Node  = 256.9202  2000.0
     q = 4.939939 AU                  Incl. = 136.1293


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 May 20                      (CBET 3534)              Daniel W. E. Green